Switched
by lu40953
Summary: The protagonists of the Bleach series have switched places with the protagonists of the Naruto series. Will they ever return to their own world? Will they ever find out who shot them into each others' stories in the first place? My first ever crossover story, so I hope you guys like it!
1. Chapter 1 - Enter: Bleach

Falling through the air wasn't the pleasantest surprise that Ichigo wanted. I mean, no one would want to have to go through that. Not that Ichigo was that surprised after always getting catapulted to the Soul Society.

_But I guess somewhat it is somehow my fault,_ Ichigo thought. _I dragged in almost everyone else that was with me._

Ichigo looked back and saw the rest of his friends flying through the air with him. Except it wasn't really air they were flying through, but space. Well, it looked like space, but they weren't suffocating or being squashed in a million pieces. It was more like a time traveling experience.

Ichigo could only hope for the best.

* * *

2 Hours Earlier:

"Ichigo! Wake up!"

Ichigo's eyes snapped open and he instantly went to his knees on his bed to prepare for his father's daily morning attack.

This time it was a flying kick, and Ichigo decided not to catch him. He hit his father's legs upwards and grabbed his father's clothes and threw him onto the ground.

_CRASH!_

"Ow…Ichigo! That isn't the way to treat your father!" Ichigo father sobbed. "But I see you have been improving!"

"What kind of father attacks his only son every morning!" Ichigo yelled at him on the top of his lungs. He waved a stiff hand and pointed at his father dramatically.

Then, like usual, Ichigo's father ran downstairs to be comforted by Yuzu, and scoffed at by Karin. Everything was normal. Or so Ichigo thought.

"Hey Ichigo! Chad said there was some kind of school reunion thing at school today," Yuzu said as soon as Ichigo sat at the table.

Between mouthfuls, Ichigo said, "Whut ish it?"

_I wonder what it is,_ Ichigo thought. _It's Saturday._

"I don't know. But they said it had something to do with Urahara-san and Yoruichi-san. Do you know them?" Yuzu asked.

Karin and Ichigo flinched.

"Ah, yes. I should go," Ichigo said as he wiped his mouth quickly with his hand after he finished eating the delicious omelet that Yuzu made.

Ichigo rushed to his room to get his soul reaper badge from his bag, and rushed out the door.

"I'm going out now!" Ichigo yelled as he put on his shoes in a hurry.

"Come back soon!" Yuzu called. "Be careful now!"

"Yeah!" Ichigo said as he closed his house's door and left through the gate.

Running to school, Ichigo met up with Rukia.

Rukia had just finished vanquishing a hollow, and performed the ceremony to send a lost soul to Soul Society.

"Rukia?!" Ichigo exclaimed. "What the heck are you doing here for?"

Rukia turned her head and gaped.

"Oh! Ichigo! Just in time. I was wondering where you were."

Ichigo stopped in his tracks next to the rather short shinigami. He scratched his head.

"Where I was? What are _you_ doing here is _my_ question. Did the Soul Society dispatch you here on a mission?"

Rukia's surprised expression turned into a serious one. Her tone dropped a note.

"The Soul Society has recently picked up an unnatural wave of strength never heard of near your town. They dispatched Renji, Ikakku, Yumichika, Captain Toshiro, Matsumoto and I to investigate," Rukia explained. Then she held up pair of headband bunny ears. "Probably 'cause we're the best at finding weird things around the human world!"

Ichigo rolled his eyes, and tried to hold back his laugh from bursting out. Rukia with a nonchalant expression holding up bunny ears was hilarious.

But he couldn't help it and he bust out laughing.

Rukia dropped a karate chop on his head.

"Come on! I sense the reishi of people gathering at your school growing."

Ichigo stopped rubbing his head. "Yeah. I sense it too."

The two raced of towards the school as fast as they could

Once they got to the school, they saw everyone gathered there. Yoruichi (in her cat form) and Urahara, who were talking to each other, and the ones who invited everyone, were standing by the side of his school. Orihime, Uryu, and Chad were standing with the soul reapers that were dispatched along with Rukia.

"Ichigo!" Orihime said as she saw Ichigo and Rukia run into the school's gate.

Everyone turned their head, but their expressions were serious. The only one that didn't seem to care about the tension around the people gathered at the school was Orihime, who rushed up to Ichigo.

"Hey Ichigo! Something important is going on," Orihime chirped. "Urahara-san sensed something that's heading towards our world. He said it wasn't reishi, but more like a large amount of flames stored in human-like shapes."

"Yes, indeed Inoe-san," Urahar said as he looked towards Ichigo. "It seems like we have a crisis!"

Ichigo blanched.

"A crisis?" He said surprised.

But Ichigo regained his composure.

"Or rather, I shouldn't be surprised," Ichigo said. "These things just end up happening around us."

"Come," Yoruichi said. She stalked off towards the back of the school.

The group was led towards the track field in the back area of their school.

"Something should come here soon. The Captain of the first company told us it should be around here somewhere," Matsumoto said.

"Tch. I hope we didn't come here to battle some weak person," Ikakku said as he spat on the track."

"Hey! Respect our school," Uryu said as he pushed up his glasses.

"What's this? You wanna fight? Heh?" Ikkaku pushed himself in front of a placid Uryu.

"You guys, break it up. You're ruining the beauty of the moment!" Yumichika said. He stepped between the two men and nudged them back a little.

"Yes. Now isn't the time we should be focusing on arguing and talking," Toshiro pointed out. He looked towards the sky. "That is."

That group of people looked up towards where Toshiro was looking. They saw a large purple energy falling from the sky towards them.

"Change into your soul reaper form Ichigo!" Rukia commanded.

"Yeah," Ichigo said.

Ichigo pressed his soul reaper badge onto his chest. He instantly felt the disconnection of his soul wrench from his body. He turned around to see that Urahara had caught his body.

"Thanks," Ichigo said.

"Well then. The thing is that I want you to investigate this. It might pose an eventual threat to our community around here. And I'm sure you don't want anyone to get hurt, right?" Urahara said as he looked at Ichigo.

"Yup," Ichigo said. He didn't like where this was going.

Urahara whipped out a struggling Kon from behind his back.

"I picked this guy up just in case something bad like this would happen. Well, my work here now is done!" Urahara said.

Urahara put Kon behind his back again, and started walking away.

"Wait!" Ichigo called out. "You haven't told me what's happening! What's going on? Who are we facing!"

Urahara did not turn around to give him an answer. A little angry, Ichigo started to run after him. But Chad stopped him.

"Ichigo. Don't. He was only here to inform us, not to help us. It's our duty to do this."

Ichigo looked at the solemn giant.

"Okay. If you say so Chad," Ichigo said sullenly.

The purple flaming object seemed to get bigger and bigger. Everyone tensed, and got ready to jump away.

But before they could even moved, the flame suddenly got brighter and sped and crashed itself into everyone.

Ichigo found himself still intact after he peaked through his closed eyes.

"Huh? Where are we?" Matsumoto exclaimed.

Ichigo saw that he was surrounded by a flaming and crackling landscaped.

_Choose your wish._

"What?" Ichigo said.

"Who are you talking to Ichigo?" Rukia said.

_Choose your wish now._

"What wish! Are you talking to me?" Ichigo called out again.

"Ichigo! Who is this person you are talking to?" Rukia commanded again.

Ignoring Rukia's question once more, he started walking around the purple landscape of space. He started looking around, confusing the others.

_Choose your wish! Do you wish to know?_

"Show yourself! Know what?!" Ichigo shouted upwards.

"Ichigo! Calm down. Who are you talking to?" Yoruichi the cat asked.

"Don't you here that voice?" Ichigo said.

The others shook their head. Ichigo sighed in exasperation.

"What voice?" Ikkaku said. "I don't here any damn voice."

"Are you alright?" Toshiro asked.

_Choose your wish. Do you wish to know who I am?_

"There! There it is again! That voice! It sounds like…a snake. A cross between a snake and a man," Ichigo said. He sheathed his sword.

Rukia touched him soothingly.

"We don't hear anything. Are you sure you hear something?"

"Yes! It asked me whether it wanted to know who I am."

Do you wish know who I am? Do you wish to know where you are?

Ichigo whipped around again.

"What did he say Ichigo?" Chad asked.

Yoruichi squinted her eyes.

"It said if I wished to know who he is, and where we are."

"Hell yeah!" Ikkaku shouted. "Take us outta here!"

That's when everything turned into a mix between black and indigo, and a starry night sky appeared. Everyone started plummeting sideways after hearing Ichigo say that this mysterious voice say "okay".

* * *

And this was the position Ichigo was in now. He was stuck falling through time and space possibly, so long that he got bored.

"When is this going to end?" Uryu said to break the silence that had fallen upon them.

"More like where are we going," Toshiro pointed out.

But the answer came quickly to the group, and they fell towards a shining light.

When they entered through to the bright light, they found themselves popped out of a portal in top of various trees. The trees were large, and the fall was long.

"Ahhhhhh!" Matsumoto and Orihime screamed.

"Uh oh," Ichigo muttered.

All sailed through the air towards the dense forest and foliage below. But unfortunately in mid-air, they split up from each other. Not wanting to be split up again like soul society, they started group each other together. But to no avail.

"Ichigo! Grab my hand!" Renji yelled.

Ichigo, who was already grabbing Chad's hand, who was grabbing Rukia's hand, reached for Renji, who was linked with Ikkaku, Orihime, and Uryu. Yoruichi was perched on Toshiro's shoulder, who was already too far to try and reach for anyone elses hand. Matsumoto was tumbling through the air while grabbing onto Yumichika's pant legs.

Ichigo reached for Renji, but a strong force of wind tore them apart. At the last second, Toshiro managed to launch himself towards Matsumoto, and grabbed her waist.

The last thing Ichigo saw of team Toshiro, Matsumoto and Yumichika was Toshiro suffocating in Matsumoto's breasts. The last Ichigo saw of Renji, Ikkaku, Orihime, and Uryu was them trying to all huddle on Orihime's shield to get ready for impact riding.

Gotta focus on landing myself, Ichigo thought.

"Get ready for impact! Watch out for branches!" Rukia called out to the two boys.

"Yeah!" Ichigo and Chad called out back to her.

And the group entered into the vast forest.


	2. Chapter 2 - Enter: Naruto

Naruto knew it was going to be a bad day from the moment his favorite ramen store closed because all the employers had flu. Instead of eating there for lunch, he decided to eat instant ramen at home.

_Time to eat by myself! _Naruto thought as he walked leisurely back to his apartment.

"Naruto! Lady Tsunade needs you at her tower!"

Naruto turned around to see Sakura.

"Hey Sakura. How's it doing?" Naruto said casually. "Oh, and by the way, I can't go to her right now 'cause I'm real hungry."

An anger mark appeared on Sakura's forehead as she stomped her foot angrily. Steamed rolled out of her ears.

"Now is not the time to think about your stomach Naruto! Tsunada-sama sounded really urgent! Almost everyone is gathered there. You're the last one!"

Naruto rubbed his head.

"But I'm really hungry, ya know," Naruto moaned.

"Geez. FINE! I'll treat you to whatever you like when we get back. Now hurry or I'll leave you behind!" Sakura said reluctantly.

She turned around and ran towards the Hokage's tower.

Naruto sighed.

_See? It was a bad day. He had to talk to Old Lady Tsunada _and_ skip out on his lunch_.

By the time that he got to the tower, most of his friends were already gathered there. Everyone there was deathly silent. Only Hinata managed to say something.

"Um…Hi Naruto-kun," Hinata said timidly.

"Hey, hey! What's with this atmosphere? I don't like it," Naruto whined.

Everyone glanced at him sideways a little uncomfortably.

Tsunade, the Hokage, was sitting at her desk, on either side were piles of paperwork yet to be filed. She had her hand folded in front of her mouth and elbows on her table. She was in deep thought, and by the look on her face, probably ruminating about some difficult decision.

Naruto looked around.

He saw Hinata with Neiji standing on the side. Gai was actually being serious this time with a rather worried Rock Lee by his side. Shikamaru was leaning in a corner with Ino and Choji by his side. Kiba and Shino were little off to the side with Akamaru whimpering at their feet. Ten Ten and Shizune, with Tonton, were standing with grim faces next to a nervous Hinata by their side.

After a moment of more awkward silence and awkward staring, Tsunade broke the silence.

"We've sensed an extraordinarily strong source in the forest surrounding our village. It isn't exactly there though; I've sent professional search teams led by Kakashi and Sai to find them, but the only thing we can sense is their presence."

Naruto blinked.

Tsunade continued on.

"In other words…we're thinking they're source of the power isn't here yet. They're probably being slowly materialized in our world."

"Huh?" Naruto asked blankly. "How is it possible?"

Tsunade shook her head.

"I'm not sure," she said quietly. She squeezed her eyes shut and scrunched up her eyebrows.

Shikamaru got up from his corner and walked to the Hokage.

"Well," he started. "Since most of the people whom we want here are here, we might as well start with dealing with this potential threat."

"But what if…you know, just saying, it's not a threat?" Choji said.

"I say we can't take the chances! They've told us how much pressure this chakra source is releasing. I say we rip them to shreds," Kiba snarled. Akamaru growled in agreement.

"I can't believe I'm agreeing with him, but I think it's best to not take chances and be fully prepared," Neiji commented coolly.

"Hm? What did you say?!" Kiba said, raising his voice.

"Enough!" Sakura said, trying to break it up.

"We should continue on with the plan," Tsunade said suddenly, startling the three. She opened her eyes. "Shikamaru?"

"Okay," Shikamaru readily agreed.

Shikamaru unrolled a scroll that Naruto hadn't noticed before in his hand. He spread it out on Tsunade's table's free space.

_It was probably hidden when he was crossing his hands across his chest in the corner_, Naruto thought to himself.

"So the most basic plan is splitting up into roughly two main teams: the ones at the village, and the ones outside the village."

"I'm all for the attacking!" Gai said, suddenly getting all pumped. "This spring time of youth won't stay with me for much longer!"

Rock Lee suddenly got pumped up too: "Yeah!"

Shikamaru sighed.

"First, I propose that Kiba and Akamaru, Shino, and Hinata head out to help find the infiltrators, but maybe in a different location from Kakashi and Sai's group. Their team are best at scouting and tracking people," Shikamaru explained.

"What?" Kiba complained. "How come we never get to do anything action packed?!"

"Quiet, Kiba. Let him finish," Shino said quietly.

Kiba growled in frustration but complied.

"Joining them will be my team, with Ino and Choji. It's best if a good combo is ready at hand to stop any emergency attacks."

Shikamaru pointed at the village gate.

"This is where Neiji, Gai-sensei, Rock Lee, and Ten Ten will be." Shikamaru pointing in the general direction of the village gate. "Ino, Choji, and I will be somewhere here." Shikamaru said, tracing his finger around the center of the village.

"And me?" Naruto asked impatiently.

"He's getting to that part. Now hush!" Sakura said sternly.

Naruto glanced, not amused, at Sakura before turning toward Shikamaru with the map.

"Of course, this is only us. Many of the adults, senseis, senpais, et cetera, will be defending the village as well. The walls will be heavily guarded, as well as the door, so maybe Gai-sensei's group could spread themselves out if needed.

"Naruto and Sakura. You guys will be on stand by. Technically, you guys are the 'attack duo,' but I want you to head out to join Kakashi and Sai in case they do find these mysterious perpetrators."

"Wait," Naruto said, stopping Shikamaru. "There are _more than one_ of these powerful chakra holders?"

"We're not sure yet. We tracked several of what seemed like burning balls of chakra that emit pressure. We're not sure if that's a single person, or several people. In fact, we're not even sure if it even _is_ a human being," Tsunade said, inserting herself into the conversation once more.

Naruto groaned.

"Suck it up," Sakura said.

Naruto pretty much tuned out the rest of the discussion. He was too hungry and bored to bother. All he needed to know was where to go and who to beat up. Since he already knew where to go and that they couldn't identify whoever he needed to beat up, he didn't bother listening to any more information.

Shikamaru talked too much about his plans anyways.

"Let's move out then," Shikamaru said.

"Yeah!" Everyone replied.

"Around when do you think they'll come about?" Naruto asked, snapping back into the conversation.

"We still don't know yet. But we're assuming its around noon," Tsunade said. "The rest you heard in our explanation.

_Yeah, I _sure_ did_, Naruto thought.

"Dismissed!" Tsunade said.

Everyone filed out of the room, and soon they were out of the tower.

Naruto groaned. The thought of missing his favorite noodles was constantly haunting his head.

"Could I puh-lease just eat some ramen now? I'm hungry, ya know!" Naruto complained. He could feel his stomach acid slowly working away on his stomach.

"No way!" Sakura said. "Your village is in danger of something that we couldn't identify. For all we know, it could be something out of this world! And yet here you are, thinking about your own stupid problems. Grow up."

Naruto squinted reproachfully at Sakura.

Suddenly, a ninja ran towards the group. He was in a hurry and had a frightened look on his face.

Shikamaru stepped forward. "What's the matter?"

"They're here!"

* * *

**Ayo. So sorry guys! This update was really really really really really slow... TT^TT I have so much work in my hands, and so much planning to do. I'm more into Bleach, and I don't know the Naruto places as well. Let's just say that I pay more attention and enjoy fights more than form mental images on the background. I'm so sorry if it's incorrect! If you see any errors, or any personality differences, please tell me.**

**Thank you so much for following me! X3 Hopefully I can update more when school ends.**


	3. Chapter 3 - Into the Forest

**Sorry guys! I finally updated! Hope you didn't have to wait too long. ." Heh heh...**

* * *

The moment Ichigo landed, he knew that something wasn't right. Actually, nothing seemed to be ever right for him, so he guessed it wouldn't be too bad.

Chad had made a small crater where he landed. Rukia landed daintily beside Ichigo. The moment they landed, though, a team of people surrounded them. All of them wore a strange headband with a simple leaf insignia on the metal part in the middle. Most of them wore a puffy green jacket held out kunai knives.

"Identify yourself!" someone yelled.

"Yourself?" Rukia asked, drawing her sword. "Not yourselves?"

"Look at that tall guy," a girl asked.

"He looks like Raikage-sama," a boy whispered back.

"No way! He looks a lot younger and more handsome than him," another girl pointed out, dropping her guard.

"QUIET!" Roared a man.

He looked like some sort of leader, Ichigo thought.

"Who are you? And what do you plan on doing to the village?" The guy who roared asked.

Ichigo didn't say anything.

Rukia looked a little hesitant.

Chad just looked calmly ahead of him. Or at least Ichigo thought he was. He could never really tell because of the curly brown hair in front of his eyes.

Chad shifted forward a little.

The little movement caused the group of people to tense up around him.

"I don't think they can see us," Rukia commented. "Afterall, we're in our Shinigami forms, and they look like normal humans to me."

A silver haired man walked a little ways in front of the man who told everyone to settle down. He had his headband over one eye, and a book in his other hand. The book slid into a hidden pocket behind him, and he shifted cautiously.

"Look. I'm sorry to say, but I don't think you belong here. If you use any violence, we'll be forced to capture you."

Chad grunted. Then he turned towards Ichigo looked confused.

"What do we do?" Chad asked.

"Stay calm, and don't talk to us. They'll think you're crazy. We'll just follow you," Rukia replied.

Ichigo nodded in agreement.

Ichigo jogged up to the silver-haired guy.

"Look! Another silver haired person, kind of like Toshiro," Ichigo said.

"Captain Hitsugaya to you," Rukia prompted.

Ichigo looked dully at Rukia, and said, "He told you to keep me in check didn't he?"

Rukia shrugged.

Chad half chuckled half sighed.

"He's crazy," Ichigo heard another boy a little bit behind to the silver-haired man whispered, smiling. He was wearing a black attire and held a scroll in his hand. In the other was a paintbrush.

"We—I've come in peace," Chad explained. "We—I've crash landed from somewhere far away."

"Yeah right! You're probably from the Cloud village or the Sand village trying to attack us," called out someone in the back.

"Wait," the silver-haired man said. "Explain more. What village are you from? Why are you here?"

"Village?" Chad questioned.

Ichigo shook her head. "It probably would have been easier if we had snuck into their village and pretended to be visitors.

"Should I fight them?" Chad asked nonchalantly. He put his left hand on his right arm.

Just before anyone could answer, something unidentified flew straight at Chad. Chad smoothly lept back, and Ichigo and Ruka put their hands on their sword handles. The object made a small shuk sound as it embedded itself where Chad had once stood.

"What? No!" The silver-haired person exclaimed. "Who threw that? And move back a little!"

"What?" Rukia said curiously.

The group surrounding them suddenly leaped up quite a ways from the trio into the trees. After careful inspection, the object that was thrown was a kunai.

"A kunai knife? Really? Are they ninjas or what?" Ichigo asked.

"We should be more worried about the burning paper attached to it!" Rukia called out.

Rukia and Ichigo flash stepped back a few paces and Chad backed up and braced himself for impending impact. They had barely prepared themselves before the small kunai exploded, causing dust to scatter around.

"Let go of my beautiful pants!" was the last thing Yumichika said to Matsumoto before they landed unceremoniously on a large tree branch. Toshiro was barely injured because Matsumoto was holding onto him so tightly.

Toshiro immediately pushed himself off of Matsumoto. His face was red, and he gasped for what he now knew as sweet air. Yumichika was mourning about his back and how awful it felt. Trees were the last thing he wanted to land on again. Matsumoto looked okay, but she was groaning. Yoruichi was calmly licking her rugged fur down.

"Remind me never, _ever_, stay close to Matsumoto when we're falling through the air again," Toshiro said while gasping for air. He wiped his face vigorously.

"But captain! I was saving you! Otherwise you would've been all alone," Matsumoto pouted. She got up and rubbed her back.

"Don't forget I count as a person too," Yoruichi said. She finished with washing her face.

"And that wasn't a very nice idea, Matsumoto. You know how I don't like anyone touching my shinigami uniform, much less hang onto one pant leg for dear life," Yumichika pointed out. He was now standing and brushing himself off.

"Looks like we didn't get detected yet. We should head to the nearest post of civilization and see if we can still find our way back," Yoruichi suggested.

"Good idea," Toshiro replied.

Renji, Ikkaku, Orihime, and Uryu were squished together uncomfortably on their transport down to the ground. All they way down, they were sitting in an awkward silence.

They landed in a grassy clearing amidst some impossibly tall trees. There were birds chirping, animals skittering about, and even a few butterflies.

"It's too peaceful for my own good," Ikkaku growled. "I want some blood and action."

Uryu pushed up his glasses, making the sunlight that dappled through the trees reflect off of it, making him look smarter.

"I think we're lost. We better head towards civilization."

"Yeah," Renji said. He rubbed the back of his neck.

"Hey, hey, guys! Doesn't this remind you of Bambii?" Orihime asked. She skipped and ran, and tumbled through the grass, oblivious of the fact that they had no idea where they landed.

"Ugh. I can't believe I landed with a bunch of sissies like you," Ikkaku muttered under his breath.

"Did you say anything Madarme?" Renji asked.

"Nah," Ikkaku said.

Renji looked suspiciously at Ikkaku, and Ikkaku at Renji.

_I can't believe I landed with some empty-headed shinigami_, Uryu thought, shaking his head.

While the two were busy growling at each other, Uryu looked around. All he saw were tall trees and grass. He saw a few mushrooms and fruit trees, but what worried him was how quiet it all was. He fingered his Quincy sign on his wrist that his father had given him.

"Hey, where's Inoe-san?" Renji asked suddenly.

The tree guys looked around to see the absent-minded girl had wandered away from them by herself.

"Shoot!" Ikkaku said. "There goes our only healer."

"Hey! I found a road. It looks like it leads somewhere," Orihime called out. "Want to try and follow it and see if it leads to some city?"

She stepped out from behind some more trees and bushes.

"Hey! Don't worry us like that," Uryu said. "We're suppose stick together."

The others stared at him with half smirks on their faces.

"Besides, you're the only person who can heal us," Uryu added hurriedly.

"Oh. Hee hee," Orihime laughed, embarrassed. "I just though I might help, you know."

The three moved to where Orihime had emerged from, and followed her lead to a long dirt road.

The group looked both ways and saw a long path. One leading down to what seemed like forever, and another that seemed like led to some kind of gate to a city.

"Let's get to civilization so we can go back as soon as possible," Renji suggested.

"Sure. Let's go to that city. Maybe we can find some good sake and sparring partners," Ikkaku said.

Uryu rolled his eyes. "We might not even be welcome there. We kind of didn't know how we got here, and we don't even know if their hostile," Uryu pointed out.

"Let's give it a try," Orihime said.

The four started walking towards the large red walls of the unknown city.

After a few minutes of walking, they were nearing the gate. On the green doors there were large red hiragana letterings. They were amazed on how large the door was. In front of the door they saw a lot of people standing guard by the doors. There were four particular people who stood out from the group guarding around the large doors. One was a girl with two buns and gigantic scroll snug in her hand. The other two were wearing green tights and orange leg warmers. They both had strange bowl buts and large eyebrows. The last was a more dignified looking guy with long hair and light lavender eyes with no pupil. Or at least it wasn't black.

"What should our excuse be for entering this city?" Renji asked.

"We could be some kind of performers," Uryu suggested quietly.

"What?! I don't want to be some performer to be gawked at unless I have a good fight with someone," Ikkaku said angrily.

"What, do you have any other better suggestions?!" Uryu huffed under his breath.

"Good day. State your purposes," someone said.

Orihime yelped and the group turned towards the unexpected arrival of a guard. She was wearing a whitish top with a dark bottom. On her head was a headband with a metal plate with a leaf symbol. Her glare meant business.

"Let me handle this guys," Uryu said as he stepped forward.

Uryu pointed towards Ikkaku with hand. "We're here to train able-bodied people."

"Able bodied? Seriously, what is going on in that good-for nothing Quincy's head?" Ikkaku whispered to Renji.

Renji merely shrugged.

"Able bodied? If you are looking to train people, we already have proper ninja training," the girl said. She looked skeptically at the lot. "Which village are you from anyway? Sound? Rain? I've never seen people dress like you guys before."

The other three that stood out took a few steps closer to the strangers.

"We're nomads," Renji suggested. "We travel where the wind takes us."

"That's so corny," Ikkaku snickered.

The girl looked expectantly at Uryu, and then at Orihime.

"Take us in, or do you want to fight?" Ikkaku sneered. He eased his katana out from its scabbard and raised it to the man.

The man didn't flinch one bit.

Renji raised his eyebrows while Uryu pushed his glasses up intelligibly.

"I'm waiting for an answer," The girl said. "Or are you enemies?"

"We're nomads." Uryu hurriedly answered. "We're looking for job opportunities in cities for the moment. We were wondering if we could help you with combat. Archery and swordplay mostly."


	4. Chapter 4 - Assessing the Situation

**I haven't uploaded them all yet! I was a little lazy on updating them onto the website, ****_gomen_****! I've written a lot down. I just haven't been on Fanfic a lot lately. Enjoy the next chapter! ^w^**

* * *

Naruto tried his hardest not to think about how hungry he was and how weak he felt.

Shikamaru, as soon as he heard from the scout that the people were there, he told Naruto and Sakura to get into their designated positions and wait for his signal while he hastened the others. With that, he sprinted toward where the others were seen headed off towards.

Sakura led the way while Naruto trailed behind. He actually had no idea what to do, so he opted to follow Sakura. Plus he was too hungry to think or run excitedly to the scene of battle.

By the time they got to the large gate leading out, they saw two people talking to one of the guards outside.

"I wonder who they are," Sakura said.

"They don't look like any specific village's ninjas." Naruto offered. "Maybe they live nomadically."

"They're not even ninjas! Do you see any headbands anywhere on their body?" Sakura pointed out.

Sakura stopped next to the guard asking the two people's questions. She looked the two outsiders from up to down. There was one girl and one boy. The boy had an intelligent aura about him, and was fingering his bracelet. The girl was standing a little bit behind the boy, but was giving glances at two empty spaces. What unnerved her was how big her chest was. It made Sakura want to unconsciously compare hers to her own.

Naruto just squinted his eyes at the two. They seemed like normal humans, but their attire was just wrong. The girl was wearing simple clothes, a light blue sweater and two hairpins. The guy was wearing all white, and fancy clothes. He had a I-am-better-than-you look on him, and reminded Naruto of Sasuke.

"Who are these people?" Sakura asked the nearest guard.

"They say they're nomads, Ms. Sakura. But they seem suspicious."

"Make sure they aren't enemies because we detected an unknown presences in the woods surrounding the village," Sakura told them. "We don't want any unnecessary infiltration when we're during a crisis."

And with that, Sakura started running again.

Naruto shrugged and gave them a friendly wave before running after Sakura.

"I saw four people there. Two were wearing black baggy _yukatas_," Sakura said after a while.

_Eh?_ Naruto thought. _I only saw two! Maybe I didn't see right because I was so hungry?_

"The girl looked like a healer," Sakura continued on. "The guy with seemed to be a person who would do long distance. The two weird men, pineapple head and baldy, looked like swordsmen."

Naruto was impressed. He beamed at Sakura.

"How could you tell?" He asked.

"The girl didn't look strong enough to fight a battle, yet she was still present in the group. That means she was vital to the group. In other words, she's the healer. The guy, on the other hand, is lean, not strong enough to be on the front lines. He also looks calm and in control. Usually that's what long-distance fighters do. He's probably also a tactician too. The other guys had swords."

"How did you tell? I mean, they just looked like two normal people to me," Naruto said.

Sakura sighed.

"You mean _four _normal people. Anyways, after you heal a number of people and you learn to fight as a medical nin, you learn to look, observe, and predict," Sakura explained. "It's all in the experience."

Sakura and Naruto took a right and hopped through the trees to where Shikamaru pointed out generally where the two might find Kakashi's group.

When they neared the spot, Naruto and Sakura saw a cloud of smoke surrounding the tress. Instantly, the two leaped towards the smoke to get a closer look.

Sakura tapped Naruto's shoulder and nodded toward the direction of their teacher, Kakashi. Calmly assessing the situation, he was standing in one of the trees closest to where the dust was coming from. They jumped onto the branch that their teacher was squatting on.

"Where are the others?" Sakura asked in a low voice.

"More like, what the heck happened?!" Naruto whispered.

Kakashi leaned his hand on the trunk.

"Someone threw an explosive kunai at the feet of a person that fell from the sky, Kakashi explained. "I trailed him through the dust over here."

The dust cloud partially cleared, and Naruto saw a tall, tan-skinned man with curly-ish brown hair standing in the midst of the smoke.

Sakura frowned.

Naruto was about to comment on the weird apparel he was wearing when he noticed a large, shield-like armoring on his right arm.

"Brazo Derecha de Gigante," the guy said.

After the guy went at ease, he turned towards an empty space and nodded slightly and scratched his head.

At the least opportune moment, Naruto's stomach groaned long and loud. He doubled over and clutched it, trying to muffle the sound to prevent the large man from hearing him.

_Too late_, Naruto thought as the tall guy looked in his direction.

"I'm going to jump down," Naruto warned Sakura and Kakashi.

"Don't!" Sakura said.

But before he could jump, the large tree fell to its side by an unknown force. The trio jumped.

Kakashi glanced back.

It's as though some huge sword sliced through the tree clean," Kakashi remarked.

"But that guy couldn't have done it," Naruto protested. "He just looked at us!"

Sakura furrowed her eyebrows. "That's because there's thr—"

The tree thudded to the ground, muffling the wound of Sakura's explanation. The three landed a good distance away from the weird man.

"Stop. We don't want to fight," the tall man said.

"You were the one who started it, ya know!" Naruto scowled.

He drew out a kunai knife from his pouch and leapt at the man.

Sakura tried to stop him. "Naruto wait! He's probably—"

Before Sakura could even finished, Naruto already reached the guy and started to attack. The guy merely deflected each slice of lethal metal with his right hand, and occasionally used the large part of his arm as his shield.

The tan man deflected the knife out of Naruto's hand. In the moment Naruto's hand spread away from protecting his torso, the guy took his chance and punched Naruto square in the stomach.

Naruto doubled over from the force and then flew towards the side, deeper into the forest. The punch was so hard that the air rushed in the direction that he punched.

"Hey!" Sakura protested.

She tightened her glove and rushed to battle the guy. Before her punch could reach to where she was aiming, the man looked at her and an invisible force redirected her punch from the man to the ground.

"What the…" Sakura said in surprise.

The ground shattered to pieces at the touch of her fist. Everything collapsed at the point where she touched.

Kakashi looked at Sakura with a slightly unsettled look. A small droplet of sweat trickled down his head.

_She's still as deadly as ever_, Kakashi thought.

The guy didn't have a chance to leap to safety and he fell into the collapsing ground. His eyes were widened at the destructive power of Sakura's punch.

Sakura landed and regained her footing on a falling piece of rubble.

"Son of a GUN!" She yelled as she pushed off towards the tall man.

Before she could even land a punch on him, he disappeared.

"Again?! Don't interfere!" Sakura cried out in outrage.

He 'teleported' a few paces back with something grappling on to the back of his shirt.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes.

"It seems like we're going against someone who's seriously a good fighter," Kakashi remarked.

Sakura backflipped to Kakashi's side.

"Weird technique he uses," Sakura noted. "Plus they always seem to rescue him at impossible moments."

"They?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah. They.

Before Kakashi could question any further someone said, "You!"

Those standing there turned toward where they heard the sound.

Naruto emerged from the trees, smudged blood near his mouth. With one hand, he was holding his abdomen, and the other leaning on a tree.

_I'm so glad I didn't eat now_, Naruto thought as he walked into the dusty clearing.

"I want to get this over quick," Naruto said.

His eyes turned frog-like and orange markings appeared around his eyes.

"Sage mode!" Sakura said.

Kakashi smiled. (Or at least Naruto and Sakura _thought_ he smiled. You couldn't really tell well with his mask on.) "I probably should get serious too."

He removed his headband blocking his left and eye and adjusted it onto his forehead. His headband revealed a scarred, red-colored eye. The eye's markings seem to rotate.

"Sharingan!"

"This is the most boring job EVER!" Kiba complained.

Akamaru whimpered in agreement.

"But this is what we all agreed to do. Shikamaru-san told us so, Kiba-san," Hinata replied, remind the impatient boy. Her eyes were trained ahead deeper into the forest.

Kiba ruffled his hair. "Argh! I can't believe we're assigned to tracking people. I mean I want to fight somebody!"

"Quiet," Shino said calmly. "The enemy might hear us."

Shino lowered his binoculars and turned towards Kiba.

"Good! Maybe that will make them some and attack us." Kiba said defiantly in return.

"Byakugan." Hinata whispered.

Kiba groaned.

"Kiba, focus." Shino admonished him.

"Will you stop telling me what—"

A slight rustling cam from a nearby bush, causing the three to stop silently.

"There!" Hinata whispered softly. "Three perpetrators and…and a cat heading our way."

Kiba and Shino looked to where Hinata was pointing to silently.

Akamaru growled.

Shino looked confused. (If that's even possible for him….)

"Where? I only see a small black cat!" Kiba whispered back. His sharp eyes were trained on the cat.

"Me too. I only see the cat. Where are the people?" Shino whispered as well.

"They're behind the cat. They're following the cat. They are wearing black dress-like clothing with swords either on their back or on their waist," Hinata replied.

Shino looked more intensely at the cat now.

"I'm pretty sure I would notice something as weird as that," Kiba scoffed.

Akamaru whimpered at Kiba.

"What? Not you too! How come I don't see the three people behind the cat?" Kiba complained. "What do they look like anyways?"

"One's a black-haired guy with short hair and…decorations coming from his face. He looks a little like a girl. One is a small boy with snow-white hair. He has an unusual badge on his arm. The last is a woman with orange hair and…a rather large chest," Hinata described.

"I'm definitely sure I would have noticed that by now," Kiba said.

"My bugs can sense something," Shino told his companions.

Hinata squinted her eyes a little at the approaching group.

_Seems as though I'm the only one who can clearly see them,_ Hinata thought to herself.

The cat turned its head slightly and seemed to meow in their direction.

"Can the cat talk like Kakashi-sensei's dog?" Hinata wondered aloud.

"What?" Kiba asked.

The small boy with white, spiky hair seemed to be listening to the cat. Suddenly he turned to meet Hinata eye-to-eye.

"They've spotted us!" Hinata gasped.

Kiba and his dog growled.

"Finally!" Kiba exclaimed. "Some action!"

* * *

**How do you like it? XD That's the end of this chapter. Stay tuned for more! Also, thank you for reading!**


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